Manufacturing method for vapor chamber without injection tube and apparatus thereof

ABSTRACT

A manufacturing method for a vapor chamber without an injection tube and an apparatus thereof, includes the steps of preparing two plates for covering onto each other to form a vapor chamber housing, injecting a working fluid between the two plates, and further preparing a sealed space having a refrigeration device installed therein, and then placing the two plates having the working fluid injected therein onto the refrigeration device, thereby maintaining a temperature of the working fluid below a boiling point under a vacuum state; next, performing evacuation on the sealing space, and then sealing perimeters of the two plates. Consequently, a vapor chamber without any injection tube can be obtained through such manufacturing method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The technical field relates to the manufacturing method of a vaporchamber, in particular, to a manufacturing method of a vapor chamberwithout the need of an injection tube during the manufacturing method,and a vapor chamber apparatus without any injection tube after thecompletion of the manufacturing method.

Description of Related Art

According to a commonly known manufacturing process for a conventionalvapor chamber, such as Taiwan Invention Patent Application No.103125191, it often requires the use of an injection tube (also known asa degassing tube) to complete, such as the works of injection of workingfluid, degassing or vacuum extraction, in order to further use weldingto seal the edges and opening, thereby forming a vapor chamber.

However, since the aforementioned injection tube has been installedduring the manufacturing process, consequently, after the completion ofthe process, such injection tube is often left in the vapor chamber. Asa result, the outer appearance of the conventional vapor chambercontains a protruded tubular object thereon, which often affects theinstallation of the vapor chamber onto a slim 3C product. Accordingly,in the currently existing manufacturing process of vapor chambers, suchas Taiwan Invention Patent Application No. 104129879, the protrudedportion of the injection tube is further cut off in order to maintainthe uniformity of the outer appearance at the circumference of the vaporchamber in light of overcoming the issue associated with theinstallation of vapor chamber in a confined space.

Nevertheless, the impact of the injection tube on a vapor chamber isgreater than the drawback mentioned above. In view of the demand forslim and compact 3C products nowadays, vapor chambers are also requestedto adopt slimmer design, such as Taiwan Invention Patent Application No.104118900. However, if an injection tube is required to perform theaforementioned manufacturing process, since the injection tube has acertain outer diameter, the thickness of the vapor chamber needs to beat least equivalent to the outer diameter of the injection tube, suchthat it is difficult to achieve the requirement for a slimmer design.Furthermore, since the manufacturing process also requires theinstallation of the injection tube first and further processing work toremove such tube at the end of the manufacturing process, consequently,it is inevitable that the edge of the vapor chamber housing is left withthe trace and mark of previously installed injection tube. If a portionof the injection tube, indentation or welding material etc. provided forthe installation of the injection tube is left thereon, it can cause thehousing edge of the vapor chamber to fail to constitute a truecontinuous and integral sealing edge.

Moreover, in terms of the current technologies, most of themanufacturing processes utilize the method of extending the vaporchamber housing to be used as an injection tube for injecting theworking fluid, degassing or vacuum extraction. The tube diameter can begenerally equivalent to the thickness of the vapor chamber, and once themanufacturing process is complete, the opening gap then undergoes asecondary press sealing process, followed by cutting the injection tubeoff. Nevertheless, in such manufacturing process, it still requires theinstallation of the injection tube in order to perform the processes ofinjection of working fluid, degassing or vacuum extraction. As a result,the injection tube still has certain level of impact on themanufacturing process of vapor chambers, and in such conventionalmanufacturing process, injection tubes are still considered to beessential rather than unnecessary.

In view of above, the inventor seeks to overcome the aforementioneddrawbacks associated with the currently existing technology after yearsof research and development along with the utilization of academictheories, which is also the objective of the development of the presentinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide amanufacturing method of a vapor chamber without an injection tube and anapparatus thereof. During the manufacturing method of a vapor chamber ofthe present invention, it does not require the installation of theelement of an injection tube at all, such that the present invention isable to achieve the manufacturing method technology for a vapor chamberwithout any injection tube, thereby the vapor chamber is no longeraffected by the existence of the injection tube during the manufacturingprocess.

To achieve the aforementioned objective, the present invention providesa manufacturing method for a vapor chamber without an injection tube,the steps comprising:

a) preparing two plates for covering onto each other to form a vaporchamber housing, and injecting a working fluid between the two plates;

b) preparing a sealed space having a refrigeration device installedtherein, and placing the two plates having the working fluid injectedtherein onto the refrigeration device, thereby maintaining a temperatureof the working fluid below a boiling point under a vacuum state; and

c) performing evacuation on the sealing space, and sealing perimeters ofthe two plates.

To achieve the aforementioned objective, the present invention providesa vapor chamber apparatus without an injection tube, comprising ahousing and a capillary structure. The housing is formed by two platescovering onto each other, and the two places both include a protrudedaccommodating portion and a sealing edge formed to extend along andcontinuously surround a circumference of the accommodating portion. Thecapillary structure is arranged at an inner wall of the accommodatingportion of the two plates. In addition, the sealing edge of the twoplates are attached onto each other and is continuously surrounded by anouter edge of the two plates and is formed via an edge sealing in orderto seal the working fluid inside the accommodating portion of the twoplates.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of the manufacturing methodof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the vapor chamber apparatus ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the process of injection of workingfluid in the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the process of covering the twoplates onto each other in the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the degassing process in the vacuumbox in the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the process of edge sealing in thevacuum box in the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective outer view of the vapor chamber apparatus of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the vapor chamber apparatus of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of manufacturingmethod for injection of the working fluid in the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view of another embodiment of afinished product of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following provides a detailed technical content of the presentinvention along with the accompanied drawings. However, the accompanieddrawings are provided for reference and illustrative purpose only suchthat they shall not be used to limit the scope of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1, a flowchart showing steps of the manufacturingmethod of the present invention. The present invention provides amanufacturing method for a vapor chamber without an injection tube andan apparatus thereof. During the manufacturing of the vapor chamber, theinjection tube commonly used in the currently existing technology is notrequired to achieve the processes of working fluid injection, degassingor vacuum extraction etc. for the manufacturing of a vapor chamber.

Please refer to FIG. 2 along with step S1 illustrated in FIG. 1. Preparetwo places 10, 11 for covering onto each other to form a vapor chamberhousing 1. The two plates 10, 11 cover onto each other and have a shapesymmetrical to each other. In other words, the two plates 10, 11 bothrespectively have a large flat surface area and protruded accommodatingportions 100, 110 as well as sealing edges 101, 111 continuouslysurrounding the perimeter of the accommodating portions 100, 110. Inaddition, the inner walls of the accommodating portions 100, 110 of thetwo plates 10, 11 include a capillary structure 2 formed thereon. Thecapillary structure 2 can be formed of sintered powder or knitted webmaterials etc. capable of providing capillary force. In addition, theaccommodating portions 100, 110 of the two plates 10, 11 can furtherinclude a supporting structure 3 installed therein in order to abutagainst the capillary structure 2 at the inner walls of theaccommodating portion 100, 110 of the two plates 10, 11.

According to the above, a working fluid 20 is injected into theaforementioned two plates 10, 11. As shown in FIG. 3, in an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, any one of the plates 10 can beplaced flatly on a processing platform 4 first, i.e. the outer surfaceof its accommodating portion 100 lies on processing platform 4 in orderto allow the inner wall of its accommodating portion 100 to face upward.Then, an injector 40 filled with the working fluid 20 is used to injectan appropriate amount of working fluid 20. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, theother plate 11 can be covered onto the plate 10, and a pressing mold 41can be used for pressing onto the other plate 11, or use other latchmeans (not shown in the drawings) to clamp and secure the two plates 10,11, in order to maintain the working fluid 20 injected within the twoplates 10, 11. At this time, if the aforementioned supporting structure3 is to be installed inside the vapor chamber, it shall also beinstalled at the internal thereof before the covering of the two plates10, 11 onto each other.

Please refer to FIG. 5 along with step S2 illustrated in FIG. 1. Preparea sealed space 50, and the sealed space 50 having a refrigeration device42 installed therein, and place the two plates 10, 11 having the workingfluid 20 injected therein onto the refrigeration device 42, therebymaintaining a temperature of the working fluid 20 below a boiling pointunder a vacuum state. In addition, the aforementioned sealed space 50can be achieved via a vacuum box 5. The vacuum box 5 includes a vacuumdevice 51 capable of performing vacuum extraction or evacuation on thesealed space 50. The vacuum device 51 can be a vacuum pump and uses avacuum tube 510 to connect to the internal of the sealed space 50 inorder to perform vacuum extraction or evacuation on the sealed space 50.Furthermore, the refrigeration device 42 is used to reduce thetemperature of the working fluid 20 inside the two plates 10, 11. Therefrigeration device 42 can be a refrigeration disk or freezer disk,such that by contacting with any one of the plate 10, it is able tocarry heat away from the working fluid 20 in order to maintain theworking fluid 20 at a low temperature required. The aforementioned lowtemperature refers to that the working fluid 20 is below the boilingpoint under the vacuum state in order to prevent complete vaporizationof the working fluid 20.

Finally, please refer to FIG. 6 along with step S3 illustrated inFIG. 1. After performing evacuation on the aforementioned sealed space50, the perimeters of the two plates 10, 11 are sealed, in order toachieve the vapor chamber without an injection tube. In addition, byusing the aforementioned vacuum device 51 to perform vacuum extractionor evacuation on the sealed space 50, the working fluid 20 at theinternal of the sealed space 50 of two plates 10, 11 can be vaporized.Once it is complete, a welding gun 43 can be used for welding thesealing edges 101, 111 of the two plates 10, 11 in order to seal thetwo. Consequently, a vapor chamber (as shown in FIG. 7) can bemanufactured completely without the element of injection tube that iscommonly used in the known arts.

As shown in FIG. 8, the sealing edges 101, 111 of the two plates 10, 11of the vapor chamber are attached onto each other, and a continuoussealing edge is formed by using a welding gun 43. In addition, since thetwo plates 10, 11 are under the vacuum state when the edge sealing isperformed, there is no need to install an injection tube. During thewelding process, it is not required to stop the welding or to cross overthe injection tube; consequently, the sealing edges 101, 111 are sealedwith each other to form a continuous loop without any disconnectedportions or gaps and continuously surrounding the outer edges of the twoplates 10, 11 (such as a loop formed by welds on the sealing edges 101,111 via arc welding). In other words, the sealing edges 101, 111 of thetwo plates 10, 11 have no traces or marks of any previously installedinjection tube, such as any grooves installed for an injection tube, orwelding material or waste material due to the welding of injection tube.The two sealing edges 101, 111 continuously surround the two plates 10,11 and are completely flat and attached onto each other. Theaforementioned flat shape means that there are no traces or marks asdescribed above. Accordingly, the working fluid 20 is sealed inside theaccommodating portions 100, 110 of the two plates 10, 11.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9, during the process of injection of theworking fluid 20, if the supporting structure 3 is to be additionallyinstalled, the supporting structure 3 can also be used to carrying theworking fluid 20. In other words, the injector 40 can also inject anappropriate amount of the working fluid 20 onto the surface of thesupporting structure 3, and after placing the supporting structure 3 onone plate 10, the other plate 11 can be covered thereon in order toproceed with the subsequent manufacturing process in the sealed space50.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 10, in another embodiment of a vapor chamberof the present invention, the accommodating portions 100, 110 of the twoplates 10, 11 further include two through holes 102, 111 respectivelyformed thereon and corresponding to each other in order to allowfasteners, such as, screw bolts, to penetrate through and to secure atthe portions of the vapor chamber provided for correspondinginstallation. The quantity of the two through holes 102, 112 can beadditionally provided in pairs according to the area of the two plates10, 11, and the outers of the two through holes respectively includeshole edges 102 a, 112 a for attachment with each other, such that themethod of, such as, welding can be used to seal the hole edges 102 a,112 a. To be more specific, any one of the accommodating portions ofplate 11 can be indented inward to form an outer hole wall 112 b, andthe outer hole wall 112 b is integrally connected to its hole edge 112a. In addition, any one of the accommodating portions 110 of the plate11 can be indented inward to form a blind hole 113. The blind hole 113is formed by a bottom edge 113 a connected to a circumferential wall 113b outside of the bottom edge 113 a, and attached onto another plate 10via the bottom edge 113 a. Its quantity can be further increaseddepending upon the area of the two plates 10, 11. Accordingly, it can beused as a support between the two plates 10, 11 without theaforementioned supporting structure while maintaining the flatness andstructural strength of the surfaces of the two plates 10, 11 at the sametime.

Accordingly, through the aforementioned structural assembly, themanufacturing method for a vapor chamber without an injection tube andan apparatus thereof of the present invention can be achieved.

Consequently, with the manufacturing method for a vapor chamber withoutan injection tube and an apparatus thereof of the present invention,during the manufacturing process, since the known element of injectiontube is completely eliminated, the entire process is not affected by theinjection tube such that the objective of automation and mass productioncan be easily achieved, thereby further increasing the product yieldrate and reducing costs. In addition, it is most suitable to be appliedto satisfy the demand for vapor champers with reduced thickness (such asapplicable to situation where thickness of 0.4 mm is required) orextremely small area. Moreover, the outer appearance of the vaporchamber is free from any limitation or difficulty due to the existenceof the injection tube. As a result, in terms of its outer appearance, italso provides greater flexibility in its style variation and design.

In view of the above, the present invention is a novel design capable ofachieving the objectives of the present invention and overcoming thedrawbacks of known arts. The present invention is novel and of inventivestep, which satisfies the patentability requirements. The abovedescribes the preferable and feasible exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention for illustrative purposes only, which shall not betreated as limitations of the scope of the present invention. Anyequivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scopeof the claims of the present invention shall be considered to be withinthe scope of the claim of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A manufacturing method for a vapor chamberwithout an injection tube, the steps comprising: a) preparing two platesfor covering onto each other to form a vapor chamber housing, andinjecting a working fluid between the two plates; b) preparing a sealedspace having a refrigeration device installed therein, and placing thetwo plates having the working fluid injected therein onto therefrigeration device, thereby maintaining a temperature of the workingfluid below a boiling point under a vacuum state; and c) performingevacuation on the sealing space, and sealing perimeters of the twoplates.
 2. The manufacturing method for a vapor chamber without aninjection tube according to claim 1, wherein in step a), any one of theplates is placed on a processing platform flatly first, and an injectorfilled with the working fluid is used to inject the working fluid intosuch plate, followed by covering the other plate onto such plate.
 3. Themanufacturing method for a vapor chamber without an injection tubeaccording to claim 2, wherein the two plates include a supportingstructure formed therein.
 4. The manufacturing method for a vaporchamber without an injection tube according to claim 1, wherein step a)further includes preparing a supporting structure for installing insidethe two plates, and using an injector filled with the working fluid toinject the working fluid onto a surface of the supporting structure,followed by installing the supporting structure inside the two plates.5. The manufacturing method for a vapor chamber without an injectiontube according to claim 2, wherein in step a), a pressing mold is usedfor pressing onto the other plate.
 6. The manufacturing method for avapor chamber without an injection tube according to claim 2, wherein instep a), a latch is used for clamping and securing the two plates. 7.The manufacturing method for a vapor chamber without an injection tubeaccording to claim 1, wherein step b) is performed inside a vacuum box.8. The manufacturing method for a vapor chamber without an injectiontube according to claim 7, wherein the refrigeration device is arefrigeration disk or freezer disk.
 9. The manufacturing method for avapor chamber without an injection tube according to claim 1, wherein instep c), a welding gun is used to perform sealing of the two plates. 10.A vapor chamber apparatus without an injection tube, comprising: ahousing formed by two plates covering onto each other, and the twoplaces both having a protruded accommodating portion and a sealing edgeformed to extend along and continuously surround a circumference of theaccommodating portion; and a capillary structure arranged at an innerwall of the accommodating portion of the two plates; wherein the sealingedge of the two plates are attached onto each other and is continuouslysurrounded by an outer edge of the two plates and is formed via an edgesealing in order to seal the working fluid inside the accommodatingportion of the two plates.
 11. The vapor chamber apparatus without aninjection tube according to claim 10, wherein the sealing edge of thetwo plates are completely flat and attached onto each other.
 12. Thevapor chamber apparatus without an injection tube according to claim 10,wherein the two plates include two through holes respectively formedthereon and corresponding to each other, and an outer of the two throughholes is respectively formed of a hole edge for attachment onto eachother.
 13. The vapor chamber apparatus without an injection tubeaccording to claim 12, wherein any one of the accommodating portions ofthe plate is indented inward to form an outer hole wall, and the outerhole wall is integrally connected to the hole edge thereof.
 14. Thevapor chamber apparatus without an injection tube according to claim 10,wherein any one of the accommodating portions of the plate is indentedinward to form a blind hole; the blind hole is formed by a bottom edgeconnected to a circumferential wall outside the bottom edge, andattached onto another plate via the bottom edge.